Gaelle Walker, Convenience Store

Sales fell by 8.8% year on year in the four weeks to March 23, according to the latest US syndicated market data from Nielsen, which tracks cigarette sales.

The figures follow an 8% decline in February and an overall 5.3% decrease in 2018.

Commenting on the fall, public health advocate and vaping author David Sweanor said: “There is a pronounced acceleration in the decline of cigarette sales over the past year, and the increase in e-cig sales is a mirror image of the decline in cigarette sales.”

Three from Dave Cross, Planet Of The Vapes:

The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) briefing provides information about vaping. It examines their benefits and risks, use and prevalence of electronic cigarettes in the UK. It covers the use of ecigs as a smoking cessation aid, and the composition of the UK vape market.

The journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research has published a paper by Professor Lynn Kozlowski, titled: “Younger individuals and their human right to harm reduction information should be considered in determining ethically appropriate public health actions”. He calls for a change in thinking when it comes to providing evidence and forming policy.

The Independent has helpfully rehashed an article from 2018 in order to fill column inches and stoke fears about vaping while driving. In telling its readers they could face fines of “thousands of pounds”, and even risk losing their licence, it ignores the fact that the car-smoking ban is a poor law and nobody has been prosecuted for smoking or vaping behind the wheel, or that zero incidents have been attributed to vaping behind the wheel.

Alt New Zealand, Scoop News

New research shows record few Year 10 students in New Zealand are smoking, while vaping by 14 and 15-year olds remains equally low and is falling.

Kiwi vaping entrepreneur Jonathan Devery says this highlights that any concerns around vaping marketing and flavours seducing young teens are more perceived than real.

If you fight to restrict or tax tobacco-free and smoke-free e-cigarettes and vapor products, you’re supporting cigarettes and smoking. Really no way around it. Like vaccines and antibiotics, ecigs one of most significant and beneficial public health advances of last century.

Michael McGrady, Inside Sources

A society that promotes tobacco harm reduction must value the “full story” about nicotine products. This means that to see a population-wide decrease in risk related to nicotine products, access to positive and negative product information is vital for creating a class of informed consumers. Take the current e-cigarette marketing regulations in the United States, for example. Despite the body of evidence which argues that e-cigarettes are chemically safer than combustible cigarettes, the existing FDA marketing regulations prevent such information from being communicated at a point of sale. In turn, as are other lower risk and modified risk tobacco products mandated, e-juices and vapes are required to bear the necessary warning labels.

Jacob Sullum, Reason

The percentage of Americans who recognize that vaping is less hazardous than smoking continues to decline, according to a recent analysis of data from two national surveys. The results suggest that years of mealy-mouthed, misleading, and mendacious statements on this subject from activists, government officials, and journalists have taken a toll on the truth, undermining a harm-reducing shift in nicotine consumption that former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb called “a tremendous public health opportunity.”

Filter Staff

On April 3, in one of Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s final acts before departing on April 5, the US Food and Drug Administration reported in a “Special Announcement” that it has received an “uptick in voluntary reports of adverse experiences with tobacco products that mentioned seizures occurring with e-cigarette use (e.g., vaping).” Some of these allegedly occurred after “a few puffs or up to one day after use.” For the FDA, the slight jump could be “a signal [of] a potential emerging safety issue.”

Jim McDonald, Vaping 360

A new bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives would set 21 as the minimum age to purchase tobacco — and vapes — nationally. The bill would also add restrictions for online purchases of vaping products.

The bill, introduced by Alabama Republican Rep. Robert Aderholt, is called the Stopping Consumption of Tobacco by Teens Act. The name, SCOTT Act, is a tribute to former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, known for his amplification of the moral panic over teenage vaping. Gottlieb left office last week, and has been replaced by Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless.

Michael Siegel , The Rest Of The Story

A new study published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Medicine reports that there is no association between vaping and cardiovascular disease among never smokers.

Like previous studies of its kind, this was a cross-sectional study that examined the association between current vaping/smoking status and ever having been told that one has cardiovascular disease (including heart attack, coronary artery disease, or stroke). Previous studies used data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) or the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study; this paper used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS).

Rachael Hodges, The Hippocratic Post

Smoking is one of the hardest addictions to quit. For many people, it takes lots of tries to stop smoking for good. Some who are trying to quit smoking turn to alternatives including vaping, and these products are helping lots of ex-smokers stay off tobacco.

Bart Pfankuch, Rapid City Journal

On July 1, the use of e-cigarettes or other vaping products will become illegal in almost all South Dakota workplaces and public buildings, including bars, restaurants and casinos.

After a somewhat hurried process, lawmakers in March voted to treat e-cigarettes the same as combustible tobacco products when used in public places. Gov. Kristi Noem signed the bill into law on March 27, allowing South Dakota to join a dozen other states with similar laws.

Aditya Kalra, Neha Dasgupta, Reuters

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s trade ministry says it cannot impose a ban on electronic cigarette imports as there is no legal basis for doing so, an internal government memo viewed by Reuters shows, in a boost for those looking to tap into the country’s growing vaping market.

FMT Reporters, FMT

All vape cartridges and related products containing nicotine must be registered with the health ministry.

The ministry said this is to ensure that the products fulfil safety regulations before they can be distributed to the public.

The registration comes under the Sale of Drugs Act 1952 and Regulations.

“Only cartridges containing nicotine which are registered can be distributed by medical practitioners as a treatment for their patients or by licensed pharmacists,” the ministry said in a statement today.